‘That drives us on' – Joe McCarthy aims cheeky message to Leinster haters ahead of ‘stuff of dreams' URC final at Croker
JOE McCARTHY sent a pointed message to Leinster critics after they booked their place in the URC Grand Final.
Leo
Cullen's men will
1
Leinster beat Glasgow Warriors in the URC semi-final
Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
It gives them the chance to end the season with silverware after
He told RTE: "Definitely needed that.
"It is our first URC final so it is massive for us.
Read More on Leinster Rugby
"We need fans behind us now. We are into Croke Park so it is exactly where we want to be.
"There is always pressure.
"We have never reached a URC final, disappointment this year already so we want to finish strong want the fans backing the side.
"I think the fans were great today. We need more of that
next
week."
Most read in Rugby Union
McCarthy could not resist aiming a dig at critics of the province when asked by Jamie Heaslip what the team's motivation was.
He said: "We know everyone loves to hate Leinster. That definitely drives us on.
Simon Zebo brutally trolls Rob Kearney after Leinster loss to Northampton
"We have a great fanbase and don't really care about the outside noise - what you guys say, what other fans say."
Saturday's game was played in front of 15,762 people – a slight improvement on the 12,879 that attended their quarter-final win over Scarlets in the
Aviva
last weekend.
There is sure to be a bigger attendance at Croke Park for the final against the Bulls on June 14.
And the
Ireland
international deemed the occasion as the stuff of dreams.
He beamed: "It is unbelievable.
"To play in Croke Park in a URC final is the stuff you dream of as a kid. It is why you play the game.
"We want a huge crowd out at the game.
"It will be a great day hopefully and we will rip into this week."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
16 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kilkenny v Galway LIVE score updates from the Leinster hurling final
For the ninth time since 2009, Kilkenny and Galway are meeting in the Leinster Hurling final. Galway were welcomed into the Leinster fold in 2009, and they have proven to be Kilkenny's biggest challengers in the provincial championship. But after consecutive victories for Galway in 2017 and 2018, Kilkenny have reasserted their dominance and are seeking a sixth Leinster title in a row. This match has had added spice in recent years, with the frosty handshake between Brian Cody and then-Galway boss Henry Shefflin going down in the annals. And Galway will be hoping that the return of Micheal Donoghue, who guided them to the 2017 All-Ireland title, will be the catalyst for them regaining power in Leinster. The match is scheduled for a 4pm throw-in at Croke Park, and you can follow all the action right here on Irish Mirror Sport. RTE Two will also have live coverage of the game and it can be streamed on the RTE Player. Kilkenny: E. Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan; C Kenny, J Molloy; J Donnelly, A Mullen, B Ryan; S Donnelly, TJ Reid, M Keoghan. Subs: A Tallis, P Moylan, D Blanchfield, S Murphy, K Doyle, Z Bay Hammond, F Mackessy, H Shine, L Hogan, L Connellan, M Murphy. Galway: E Murphy; P Mannion, Daithí Burke, F Burke; C Fahy, G Lee, TJ Brennan; S Linnane, David Burke; J Fleming, C Mannion, T Monaghan; C Whelan, B Concannon, K Cooney. Subs: D Walsh, D Morrissey, J Grealish, J Ryan, D Loftus, R Glennon, C Cooney, T Killeen, A Burns, C Molloy, J Flynn. Hello and welcome to live coverage as Kilkenny take on Galway in the Leinster Hurling Final. Hurling fans will be hoping for a similar spectacle to last night's Munster Final but the likelihood of which is incredibly low. In the same way that Limerick were chasing seven Munster titles in a row, Kilkenny have had a stranglehold of this competition and chasing a sixth successive title. Today's game throws in at 4 pm at Croke Park with RTE Two showing live coverage of the game and it is available to stream on the RTE Player. We will have live coverage of the game here on the Irish Mirror.
Irish Independent
17 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Kildare looking to take next step of their ascent on hurling's ladder
If you blinked you may have missed those times Kildare hurlers left a mark on the national consciousness, with the county's first appearance in a McDonagh Cup final raising memories of notable past accomplishments. So let's step into the time machine. The 1976 Leinster quarter-final against Wexford in Athy finished with Kildare just four points off the county that would win the province that year and play in the All-Ireland final against Cork. That November, Ardclough knocked Buffers Alley out of the Leinster senior club championship.
Irish Daily Mirror
32 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Sam Prendergast, the big debate: Leinster must decide whether to stick or twist
Leinster boss Leo Cullen must decide whether or not to drop Sam Prendergast - he will be wrestling with his hardest-ever selection call this week. And he will do so with pressure from above as Andy Farrell wants the 22 year-old in the Leinster first team for better or for worse; it's no skin off his nose who wins trophies at club level as his focus is on RWC being Head Coach at Leinster, a club with 11 of the 14 Central Contracted Ireland players these days, is difficult enough as you watch for what is raining down from is also the need to work with what's beneath and his Attack Coach Tyler Bleyendaal is resolutely pro-Prendergast, that's his boy while the likelihood is the generally conservative-thinking Cullen would have leaned towards Ross Byrne for the latter stages, quarters, semis and final, of an increasingly nervy URC on the idea he has the competition's best squad, take a risk-averse approach in the form of a straightforward conduit at out-half, someone to simply link his Lions/international backs with his Lions/international comfort from the idea that even with a completely mis-firing no10 against Glasgow, there was still enough to concede the last two scores and still win by 18 points (forwards decide who wins matches, backs decide by how much!)But selections at Leinster have other, hidden agendas such as All Black Jordie Barrett and Springbok RG Snyman being placed on the bench, their use being subordinate to the interests of the national if Farrell is okay with dropping Prendergast, he would likely prefer Ciaran Frawley to play no10 rather than Ross Byrne who has not only been supernumerary to the Ireland set-up, he is out of the equation from here on in having signed a three-year deal with this, Cullen can't win between announcing team selection on Friday lunchtime and kick-off at Croke Park some 29 hours later. It is a stand or fall on the result at the final Gatland has seen it all, done it all, worn all the teeshirts. He says he was genuinely put out, rocked back, by the level of venom directed at him over his 2013 Lions dropping of O'Driscoll.(Although he also says BOD, whom he accidentally bumped into after the team was named, indicated that as Tour Captain the coach had his total backing saying something on the lines of 'I've walked the walk, now I've to show I can talk the talk in there...').Gatland was, of course, vindicated as the Lions won that Test Series albeit the Gatland-BOD relationship is frosty to this then it had not been a bromance beforehand either. Their answers about each other in Cardiff after the historic 2009 Grand Slam were decidedly angular and awkward for those Deschamps got selection for the 2018 Fifa World Cup final wrong. He shouldn't have started N'golo Konte who was ill and, indeed, was taken ashore after 55 minutes. Deschamps got away with it though, France beat Croatia Conte's Chelsea won the 2016/17 Premier title posting a record number of wins in the process and with Diego Costa scoring 20 goals in 34 games. Before Costa was informed by the coach by text he wasn't wanted for next season."Hi Diego, I hope you are well," began Conte's message altogether reasonably considering he was limited by the number of characters he could use. "Thanks for the seasono [sic] we spent together. Good luck for the next year but you are not in my plan."Conte had decided to replace Costa with Alvaro Morata. He did, and sold Costa in January without playing him for even a minute to that point. Chelsea finished fifth, the Spaniard contributing just 11 goals in 31 matches, three coming in the one game against soon-to-be relegated Stoke could look to some rugby examples too, not least when it comes to picking the Jones says he lost the 2019 Rugby World Cup final by tinkering with his semi-final 10-12-13 line-up and picking Mako Vunipola ahead of Joe Mahler at started the semi-final against the All Blacks - who were on an 18 match unbeaten World Cup run at the time - with Owen Farrell at no10, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade in the centre and finished 19-7 impressed by George Ford who came on a sub, Jones switched the starting line-up for the final to Ford at no10 with Farrell and Slade in the centre. South Africa beat England 32-12. Ireland's rugby selection problems have included one humdinger from the past, dropping Lions prop Phil Orr in 1986, scapegoated for a loss in Paris, for a then unknown London Irish hooker Paul Kennedy. Two thrashings later Orr was recently there was Eddie O'Sullivan's baffling RWC 2007 decision to play his 'first' team in the opening game against Namibia and following 'only' winning 32-17 to play them again the following week against Ireland would be hammered by France and Argentina in the remaining pool games and fail to make the quarter-finals. This remains the only time Irland have failed to emerge from the pool stages at a Rugby World it stands, the Leinster players have Sunday off, will train/review on Monday and most likely know the team themselves on Tuesday as they line out accordingly in training before having Wednesday is not on his side and, given the options, it will not be easy for poor game does not a bad player make - but should Prendrgast's France and Wales Six Nations games be factored in here?Some of Leinster's best passing at the line in any case comes from Jamison Gibson-Park. Witness the flat, lengthy, cut-out delivery that put Jamie Osborne in for his second try on has previously indicated he does not, in any way shape or form, blame Ross Byrne on last season's lack of a trophy. He is a safe pair of hands, a better defender, less of an attacking threat, and a more reliable this: The out-half did very, very well in the second-half when the pressure was on in the 2024/24 Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton at a packed Croke he played really well away at Bulls in March with Barrett outside him at no12 and where a rookie team lost 21-20 at Loftus Versfeld. A 77th minute penalty even gave Leinster the lead only for David Kriel to land an 85th minute winning penalty. Oh so is Ciaran Frawley who, it should be noted, was brought in for Barrett just a short while before Byrne came on for Prendergast in the may even be wishing he had seen more of Frawley at out-half this term but with the pressure on to play Prendergast, selection decisions, of necessity, sometimes end up eating for the curious: What of Barrett at no10? Not a runner actually as while he plays all the positions across the backs, he has only played one of his 170-odd senior games at out-half, an RWC 2029 pudding pool game for the All Blacks against Namibia.
